The deployment of a peacekeeping mission would prove a real breakthrough in resolving the conflict, the Ukrainian president said

Share

1 pages in this article

KIEV, September 7. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has welcomed the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission to the entire territory of Donbass, without involving Russia and agreeing on the initiative with militias.

"The deployment of a peacekeeping mission would prove a real breakthrough in resolving the conflict," Poroshenko said in his annual address to the parliament. He emphasized Ukraine’s readiness for a detailed conversation with the UN Security Council members.

"We support the deployment of a full-fledged United Nations peacekeeping mission to the entire Donbass," he stressed. "The mission should comply with the key principles of international operations, which automatically excludes the participation of the aggressor country and the parties to the conflict."

The Ukrainian president also ruled out the possibility of agreeing on the mission’s mandate with the Donbass militias. "It is clear that it will be hard to agree on the UN mission’s mandate, but in a week and a half I am going to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly and I am sure that by securing the assistance of our partners from France, Germany and the US we will succeed in rebuilding peace, retaking the occupied territory and restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty," Poroshenko said.

At the same time, the Ukrainian president reiterated that the Minsk Agreements "are not perfect, they haven’t ensured a stable peace," but they "allowed to deescalate war tensions a bit."

Russia’s initiative

On Tuesday, while addressing his final press conference at the BRICS summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would submit a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council, stipulating the deployment of UN peacekeepers to Donbass in order to ensure the OSCE mission members’ security. Putin pointed out that the deployment of the UN forces would become possible only after the weapons withdrawal process completed and the issue was agreed on with the self-proclaimed Donbass republics.

According to the Russian president, the deployment of the UN forces to ensure the OSCE mission’s security could help resolve the Ukrainian issue.